The Poetics of Imitation Anacreon and the Anacreontic Tradition [Hardcover]

This 1992 book explores the complex poetics of imitation which inspired anacreontic composition for so many centuries in antiquity.This collection of poems, once thought to be the work of the archaic Greek poet Anacreon, was considered unworthy of attention when revealed to be late Hellenistic and early Roman imitations by anonymous writers. This 1992 book explores the complex poetics of imitation which inspired anacreontic composition for so many centuries in antiquity. A full translation is included as an appendix.This collection of poems, once thought to be the work of the archaic Greek poet Anacreon, was considered unworthy of attention when revealed to be late Hellenistic and early Roman imitations by anonymous writers. This 1992 book explores the complex poetics of imitation which inspired anacreontic composition for so many centuries in antiquity. A full translation is included as an appendix.Western literature knows the anacreontic poems best in the translations or adaptations of such poets as Ronsard, Herrick and Goethe. This collection of poems, once assumed to be the work of Anacreon himself, was considered unworthy of serious attention after the poems were proved to be late Hellenistic and early Roman imitations by anonymous writers. This book, the first full-length treatment of the anacreontic corpus, explores the complex poetics of imitation that inspired anacreontic composition for so many centuries in antiquity. It discusses the sophisticated and allusive nature of the texts, and the curious relationship between model and imitators. A full translation of the anacreontic collection is included as an appendix and all Greek and Latin is translated.List of plates; Acknowledgements; Introduction: the anacreontic question; 1. Origins: the role of Anacreon as model; 2. Anacreontic imitators: the model revised; 3. Reading the texts: a sterile abundance of words; 4. The anacreontic anthology; 5. The allusive text; Conclusions: Byzantium and beyond; Appendl³g